Sofa-bed.



No. 643,210. Patented Feb. I3, |900. A. D. TOMLINSON.

SUI-'A BED.

(Application filed Oct. 6, 1899. (No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet l.

No. 043,210. Patented Feb. I3, |000.

- A. 0. T0MLms0N. l

' SGFA BED.

(Application filed Oct. 6,- 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W15/Lewes: InUen-OK AZ er? #e weky vomZz'nsoz.

limitan Sterns ALBERT DEWEY TOMLINSON,

`PATenrr Ormea,

OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SOFA-BED.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,210, dated February 13, 19010. Application filed October 6, 1899. Serial No. 732 ,776. (No model.)

T0 coll whom t may concern:

Be it known that 1, ALBERT DEWEY Toir- LINSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvein ent in Sofa-Beds, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters and numerals on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates toa sofa folding bed, the object of the invention being to provide a combination piece of furniture of this character which is simple in construction and which can be opened and closed with facility and rapidity, it being adapted when open to serve as a bed and when closed as a sofa or couch, and the organization is such that when closed the article will contain and hide the bedclothing and when opened the mattresssupporting structure will not present any obstruction, as in such a case as this said obstruction would be decidedly uncomfortable to the user of the device when the saine is employed as a bed.

The improved device includes as one of its features a frame consisting of a bottom piece and a top piece hinged thereto, and contains a mattress-supporting structure foldable along its middle and extending continuously from the side board of the top piece to the sideboard of the bottom piece, and a cross-rail uniting the end members of the bottom piece, but not sustaining said mattress-supporting structure. The cross-rail serves not only to strengthen the bottom piece against longitudinal strains, but serves alike function for the top piece, and as it is located below the mattress-supporting structure it cannot come in contact with the latter, so that such structure presents upon its upper side a smooth and unbroken surface.

showing the article as closed; and Fig. 4: is a perspective View of the same upholstered or covered, but without a back.

The sofa-bed illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and

3 includes in its construction a frame, which may be made from anysuitable material. The frame shown is indicated by 12, and it isrectangular in shape and consists of two main sections, as A and B. The part A constitutes the bottom piece and the part B the top piece, and the two sections are connected in such a manner that the. part B can be shifted relatively to the part A to open and close the same. The bottom piece or body is provided at its corners or at other convenient places with the depending legs O, adapted to rest upon a floor when the back is down, While the back 13 of the top piece is furnished at its opposite outer corners with projecting portions 14 and l5, adapted when the top piece is down to rest upon the licor and serving as legs to support said top piece, and it will be seen that when the top piece is down the upper edges of the two parts are in the same horizontal plane, whereby the bed can be readily entered from either side or the end. The back 13 is in the-nature of a side board,the complementary side board being denoted by 16 and being disposed in parallelism therewith. The end pieces of the upper sections are denoted by 17 and 18,while the substantially similar end pieces of the bottom part are denoted by 20 and 21, and the cooperating end pieces t substantially edge to edge when the top piece is down and they are united by hinges, as b, mounted upon the upper sides thereof and countersunk therein. The end pieces 20 and 21 are united at the forward side thereof by a center rail 22, shown as located some distance below the upper edge of the bottom piece or body and secured between and suitably to the inner faces of said end pieces, the purpose of said rail being to strengthen the structure against longitudinal strains. Y

The sofa-bed is provided with a mattresssupporting structure, preferably formed from woven spring-wire and foldable at about its middle on a line extending longitudinally of the bed and in parallelism with the side pieces, and it is free at its middle, so that it may be shaped to adjust itself readily to the central fold of a mattress, as illustrated in Fig. 3, and it will be evident by virtue of this that the fold is a smooth one, Without any angles, and that it is decidedly comfortable to the limbs, and the center rail usually present at this IOO .as to materially strengthen the same depthwise thereof. It will be seen upon examination of said figure that the center rail 22 is located below the mattress-supporting structure G, and hence it does not support the same, as in such a case as this the rail would form an objectionable body in the middle of the mattress, which would be uncomfortable.

By the construction specified I can simply lay a thin quilt upon the structure Gr when the same is unfolded without annoyance to the sleeper, as the body does not come in contact with the center rail. This center rail therefore in no wise sustains the mattress-supporting structure, but is employed solely as a brace for the bottom piece against endwise strains thereof.

The mattress-supporting structure is located, preferably, some distance below the upper edges of the two parts of the bed when the same is opened, so that when said bed is closed it can easily receive a mattress and bedclothing, as F.

The mattress-supporting structure, it will be seen, Fig. 1, extends continuously between the side boards 13 and 16, but it is preferably free of the same, it being connected to the end pieces. Said'structure G is secured at one end by means of clamps, asf, to the end pieces 1'7 and 20, while the opposite end of said structure is adjustably connected to the end pieces 18 and 20, by reason of which any looseness or slack that may be present in the same may be readily taken up. The clamps CZ are secured by means of tie-bolts, as c, to

4the end pieces 18 and 2l. Each of the clamps consists of two superposed plates or Hat bars, (see Figs. 1, 2, and 3,) between which the end of the mattress is gripped and held by the fastening-bolts c. By turning the nuts 32 of the tie-bolts toward the right the clamps d can be drawn toward the parts 18 and 2l for the purpose of tightening` the structure or spring-bottom G. It will therefore be seen that not only the sides of the mattress are are free, but the same is free longitudinally thereof along its middle, so that a fold can be made therein, as shown in Fig. 3, when the article is shut, whereby said structure can readily shape or accommodate itself to the curvature or conformation of the contained mattress along the fold thereof, the clamps d, ysecured to the respective parts 18 and 2l, being separated a distance sufficient to insure this result.

The piece of furniture thus described may be upholstered to any suitable extent, and the upper side of the flat mattressesupporting structure forms a strong support for cushions placed thereupon, and as the same is free at its sides and also at its middle it is highly flexible at all places between its ends, which is a decided point of utility.

The invention is not limited to the precise details herein set forth, for they may be variously modified within the scope of the accompanying claims.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A sofa-bed comprising a frame consisting of a bottom section and a top section foldable upon said bottom section, and only one of which has a center rail and said center rail being secured to the end pieces of thebottom section and serving to brace the same longitudinally and being adjacent to the inner open side of the top section to also brace the latter longitudinally, and a continuous flexible mattress-supporting structure secured to the end pieces of said two sections relatively remote from the upper edges thereof when the bed is open, and located above and out of contact with said center rail, and said means which secure the ends of the mattress to the end sections being superposed and at remote distances from each other when the sofa-bed is closed, and being separated laterally at opposite sides of a longitudinal median line of the mattress when the bed is open, whereby when said structure is folded, it will present a rounded surface at the forward side thereof and whereby it constitutes a receptacle for bedclothing.

2. A sofa-bed comprising a frame consist ing of a bottom section and a top section foldable upon said bottom section, and only one of which has a center rail, and said center rail being secured to the end piece of the bottom section and serving to brace the same longitudinally and being adjacent to the inner open side of the top section, to brace the same longitudinally, clamps arranged in pairs and secured to the end pieces of the two sections, two of said clamps at one end of the bed being adjustably connected thereto and being disposed relatively remote from the upper edges of the two sections when the bed is open, and a continuous iieXible mattress-supporting structure secured between the jaws of the clamps and the portions of the clamps at the opposite ends of the bed being` superposed and at remote distances from each other when the bed is closed, and beingseparated laterally at opposite sides of a longitudinal median line of the mattress when the bed is open,whereby when the latter is folded it will present a rounded surface at the forward side thereof and whereby it constitutes a relatively-deep receptacle for bedclothing.

In testimony' whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT DEWEY TOMIJINSON.

Witnesses:

HEATH SUTHERLAND, LOUISE RoTHsTEIN.

IOO

IIO 

